This application is based on application Nos. 11-86909, 11-86911, and 11-86912 filed in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional (3D) object molding apparatus and method especially for manufacturing an intended 3D molded product by jetting materials such as resins in a fluid or liquid state for example in an ink jet system and curing and laminating them in layers.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, there have been apparatuses that perform 3D molding of a 3D object by cutting the object at a plurality of parallel planes and successively laminating resins in layers for each cross-section, thereby to produce a molded product or 3D model of the object.
FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram of a conventional 3D object molding apparatus 100. In the apparatus 100, a computer 111 converts a 3D object to be molded into a data format and outputs section data which is obtained by slicing the object into several layers of thin cross-sections. A drive control unit 112 receives the section data from the computer 111 and controls an ink jet head 115, an XY-directional driving unit 113, and a Z-directional driving unit 114 according to the data. Under the control of the drive control unit 112, the XY-directional driving unit 113 starts operating and the ink jet head 115 jets droplets of a thermoplastic resin. This forms a cross-sectional shape based on the section data from the computer 111. The thermoplastic resin jetted onto a stage 116 undergoes heat radiation and cooling, thereby changing its state from molten to solid (i.e., being cured). These operations produce a single cross-section, i.e., a single layer.
The drive control unit 112 then controls the Z-directional driving unit 114 so that the stage 116 is lowered by one layer thickness. In a similar manner, another layer can be stacked on the initially formed layer. Stacking such successive thin layers on top of each other result in a molded product 117.
When the molded product 117 has overhangs in shape, the computer 111 adds the shape of overhang supporting parts to the section data as necessary during conversion of the object to data format. According the shape of overhang supporting parts, the drive control unit 112 causes an ink jet head 118 to jet droplets of a thermoplastic resin having a different melting temperature from that forming the molded product, thereby to form overhang supporting parts 119 simultaneously with the formation of the molded product.
After the completion of lamination, the molded product undergoes heat curing at temperatures higher than the melting point of the resin forming the supporting parts and lower than the melting point of the resin forming the molded product. This allows only the resin forming the overhang supporting parts 119 to be melted and removed, thereby producing a desired 3D molded product.
However, the 3D molded product produced by the conventional 3D object molding apparatus or an injection molding/cutting machine is formed only of a single resin material except in special cases such as double molding, and is thus only of a single color. When coloring is required for the 3D molded product, a designer must draw patterns and apply colors at later stages. This consumes time and cost more than necessary.
That is, the production of a 3D molded product having a plurality of colors or any combination color must rely on manual operation after molding since it is not easy for the conventional apparatus to produce a finished 3D molded product for a short time at low cost.
Here it should be noted that coloring is mainly required for the surface of a 3D molded product and is not much of a problem for the interior as long as the surface is colored. Therefore, it is desirable to use different materials properly in the surface and interior molding of a 3D molded product. For that reason, the apparatus needs to be configured so that, in laminating each layer of the product, coloring materials are jetted to mold around the surface of a 3D molded product and another material prepared for interior use is jetted to mold the interior.
It is, however, impossible for the conventional 3D object molding apparatus 100 to have such a configuration.
The present invention is directed to a three-dimensional object molding apparatus for producing a three-dimensional molded product by jetting materials to form each layer and stacking such layers in succession.
According to an aspect of the present invention, this apparatus comprises a first nozzle jetting a first material, a second nozzle jetting a second material, and a controller which, in forming each layer of the three-dimensional molded product, causes the first nozzle to jet the first material in molding the interior of the layer and the second nozzle to jet the second material in molding a surface of the layer.
Thus, different materials can be used properly in the surface and interior molding of the three-dimensional molded product.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the second material includes a plurality of resins having different color components, and the second nozzle includes a plurality of nozzles corresponding to the resins.
Thus, it is easy to color the surface of the three-dimensional molded product in the molding process for a short time at low cost.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the apparatus comprises a molding nozzle jetting a molding resin to produce a three-dimensional molded product, and coloring nozzles jetting coloring agents of a plurality of colors to color the product.
Thus, it is easy to color the three-dimensional molded product in the molding process for a short time at low cost.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the apparatus comprises a first nozzle jetting a white material and a second nozzle jetting materials of a plurality of colors other than white.
This facilitates clear reproduction of the color intensity and gradations as well as allowing short-time low-cost coloring of the three-dimensional molded product.
The present invention is also directed to a three-dimensional object molding method of producing a three-dimensional molded product by jetting materials to form each layer and staking such layers in succession.
The present invention aims to provide an improved three-dimensional object molding apparatus and method that bring about solutions to the conventional problems.
A first object of the present invention is to facilitate short-time low-cost molding by using different materials properly in the surface and interior molding.
A second object of the present invention is to allow short-time low-cost coloring of a three-dimensional molded product.
A third object of the present invention is to facilitate clear reproduction of the color intensity and gradations on a three-dimensional molded product as well as allowing short-time low-cost coloring of the product.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.